1.
Trench warfare
–
The most famous use of trench warfare is the Western Front in World War I. It has become a byword for stalemate, attrition, sieges, Trench warfare occurred when a revolution in firepower was not matched by similar advances in mobility, resulting in a grueling form of warfare in which the defender held the advantage. On the Western Front in 1914–18, both sides constructed elaborate trench and dugout systems opposing each other along a front, protected from assault by barbed wire, mines, the area between opposing trench lines was fully exposed to artillery fire from both sides. Attacks, even if successful, often sustained severe casualties, with the development of armoured warfare, emphasis on trench warfare has declined, but still occurs where battle-lines become static. Field works are as old as armies, Roman legions, when in the presence of an enemy, entrenched camps nightly when on the move. In the early modern era they were used to block possible lines of advance and they played a pivotal role in manoeuvring that took place before the Battle of Blenheim. The lines were captured by the French in 1707 and demolished, the French built the 19-kilometre-long Lines of Weissenburg during the War of the Spanish Succession under the orders of the Duke of Villars in 1706. These were to remain in existence for just over 100 years and were last manned during Napoleons Hundred Days, the French built the Lines of Ne Plus Ultra during the winter of 1710–1711, which have been compared to the trenches of World War I. They ran from Arras to Cambrai and Valenciennes where they linked up with existing defensive lines fronted by the river Sambre and they were breached in the 1711 campaign season by the Duke of Marlborough through a magnificent piece of manoeuvring. During the Peninsular War, the British and Portuguese constructed the Lines of Torres Vedras in 1809 and 1810, nor were fortifications restricted to European powers. British casualty rates of up to 45 percent, such as at the Battle of Ohaeawai in 1845, proved contemporary firepower was insufficient to dislodge defenders from a trench system. Fundamentally, as the range and rate of fire of rifled small arms increased and this was only made more lethal by the introduction of rapid-firing artillery, exemplified by the French 75, and high explosive fragmentation rounds. The increases in firepower had outstripped the ability of infantry to cover the ground between firing lines, and the ability of armour to withstand fire and it would take a revolution in mobility to change that. Trench warfare is associated with the First World War of 1914–18. Both sides concentrated on breaking up attacks and on protecting their own troops by digging deep into the ground. Trench warfare was conducted on other fronts, including Italy. Trench warfare has become a symbol of the futility of war. To the French, the equivalent is the attrition of the Battle of Verdun in which the French Army suffered 380,000 casualties, Trench warfare is associated with mass slaughter in appalling conditions

2.
Redan
–
Redan is a term related to fortifications. It is a work in a V-shaped salient angle toward an expected attack and it can be made from earthworks or other material. The redan developed from the lunette, originally a half-moon-shaped outwork, redans were a common feature in the coastal batteries built in Malta between 1715 and the end of the 18th century. Surviving batteries with redans include Mistra Battery and Saint Anthonys Battery, the Russians used redans on their left at the Battle of Borodino against Napoleon. A small redan whose faces make an angle with a vertex toward the enemy is called a flèche. The Bagration flèches were three redans backwards in echelon, the Shevardino Redoubt was erected as an early warning post a mile in front of the Bagration flèches. A Redan hole or Redan is an aspect of golf course architecture commonly associated with golf architect Charles B, the term alludes to the Redan type of fortification. Specifically, a Redan hole has a green which slopes downward and away from the point of entrance, typically the front right portion of the green. Links golf is played on the ground as much as in the air and, consequently, the green slopes away from the golfer playing to the green from the tee or fairway. Thus, it is played in an indirect manner, that is. This definition serves well to explain the basic concept, macdonald built his original American Redan as the fourth hole at the National Golf Links of America, commonly known as NGLA. He and his cohorts, Seth Raynor and Charles Steamshovel Banks built a Redan or a reverse version of it at nearly every course that they constructed. It is an element that has been copied by modern architects frequently - most notably the husband wife team of Pete and Alice Dye. The design element can be used as a complex of any par hole - a par 3 most commonly. Many Redan holes are flanked by a variety of deep bunkers, the original Redan is the 15th hole on the West Links of North Berwick. Redan holes in which the green is visible from the tee can produce a particular excitement for the golfer as the ball tracks its way to the hole, at the original Redan design in North Berwick, Scotland, the green is invisible from the tee. The NGLA version, more the inspiration for modern copies than the original hole, many golf architecture connoisseurs feel that the NGLA hole is the perhaps the greatest example of this design, exceeding the original. The name Redan in golf comes from the Crimean War, when the British captured a Russian-held fort, a serving officer—John White-Melville—is credited on his return as describing the 6th like the formidable fortress, or redan, he had encountered at Sebastopol

3.
Naxxar
–
Naxxar is a town in the Northern Region of Malta, with a population of about 13,443 people as of March 2014. The Naxxar Church is dedicated to Our Lady of Victories, the annual village feast is celebrated on 8 September. Naxxar was formerly known for hosting the Maltese International Trade Fair at Maltese International Trade Fair Grounds, the Naxxar Locality is spread over an area of 11 square kilometres and has a population of over eleven thousand persons. The whole locality comprises the Naxxar centre, Sgħajtar area, Santa Marija tax-Xagħra, San Pawl tat-Tarġa, Birguma, Magħtab, Salina, Baħar iċ-Ċagħaq, Naxxar is famous for its cart ruts that curve and twist down the Great Fault escarpment. It is not easy to determine when Naxxar started to become a village, what is sure is that thousands of years ago, there already existed some form of habitation in Naxxar. According to legend and the Bible, the people of Naxxar were amongst the first to help the shipwrecked, including Saint Paul, for this reason many connect the name Naxxar with Nassar which means conversion to Christianity. The name might alternatively be derived from the Maltese verb Naxar, others insist that the name comes from Nsara or Nazaroei which means those who believe in the teachings of Christ who came from Nazareth and thus Nozri. Others say that the word Naxxar means one who saws, separates or cuts – it might be worth mentioning that in Naxxar there are a lot of stonemasons. Magri, in his book says that the word comes from nazar which in Jewish means chosen for him or else one who keeps to himself. This is because in the vicinity the Arabs had formed a village that they called Hal Muselmiet, for this reason the Christians started another village – that of the Christians and so the name of Naxxar. In fact the Parish of Naxxar was the first in the Maltese outskirts, after that of the Cathedral and this is borne out and further evidenced by the village motto – Prior Credidi – meaning the First To Believe. Inversione residenziale, mutamenti nell’uso dello spazio sociale a Malta, the Naxxar parish church was one of the ten parishes found to be existing by Bishop De Mello in 1436 and the villages of Mosta and Għargħur were subject to it. De Mello listed it as one of the ten parishes of Malta, in 1575, the parish of Naxxar had under its control a total of 36 churches –14 in Naxxar,5 in Għargħur,12 in Mosta and 5 in the neighbourhood of these villages. The present church was built between 1616 and 1630 when there were 1200 inhabitants in Naxxar and it was felt that a church was needed. The design was made by Tumas Dingli, one of the best architects of the time, the parish priest was Father Gakbu Pace. The choir and the area around it was redesigned in 1691 to the design of Lorenzo Gafà, the parish church was solemnly consecrated by Bishop Alpheran de Bussan on 11 December 1732. The church has two choirs, the renowned Jubilate Deo choir and its sister childrens choir Pueri Cantores Jubilate Deo, the choirs are currently being handled by Christopher Muscat and Daniela Callus respectively. The church also has two transepts and a nave and is 130 feet long, the width of the transept is 94 feet and the nave 30 feet

4.
Malta
–
Malta, officially known as the Republic of Malta, is a Southern European island country consisting of an archipelago in the Mediterranean Sea. It lies 80 km south of Italy,284 km east of Tunisia, the country covers just over 316 km2, with a population of just under 450,000, making it one of the worlds smallest and most densely populated countries. The capital of Malta is Valletta, which at 0.8 km2, is the smallest national capital in the European Union, Malta has one national language, which is Maltese, and English as an official language. John, French and British, have ruled the islands, King George VI of the United Kingdom awarded the George Cross to Malta in 1942 for the countrys bravery in the Second World War. The George Cross continues to appear on Maltas national flag, the country became a republic in 1974, and although no longer a Commonwealth realm, remains a member state of the Commonwealth of Nations. Malta was admitted to the United Nations in 1964 and to the European Union in 2004, in 2008, Catholicism is the official religion in Malta. The origin of the term Malta is uncertain, and the modern-day variation derives from the Maltese language, the most common etymology is that the word Malta derives from the Greek word μέλι, meli, honey. The ancient Greeks called the island Μελίτη meaning honey-sweet, possibly due to Maltas unique production of honey, an endemic species of bee lives on the island. The Romans went on to call the island Melita, which can be considered either as a latinisation of the Greek Μελίτη or the adaptation of the Doric Greek pronunciation of the same word Μελίτα. Another conjecture suggests that the word Malta comes from the Phoenician word Maleth a haven or port in reference to Maltas many bays, few other etymological mentions appear in classical literature, with the term Malta appearing in its present form in the Antonine Itinerary. The extinction of the hippos and dwarf elephants has been linked to the earliest arrival of humans on Malta. Prehistoric farming settlements dating to the Early Neolithic period were discovered in areas and also in caves. The Sicani were the tribe known to have inhabited the island at this time and are generally regarded as being closely related to the Iberians. Pottery from the Għar Dalam phase is similar to found in Agrigento. A culture of megalithis temple builders then either supplanted or arose from this early period, the temples have distinctive architecture, typically a complex trefoil design, and were used from 4000 to 2500 BCE. Animal bones and a knife found behind an altar stone suggest that temple rituals included animal sacrifice. Tentative information suggests that the sacrifices were made to the goddess of fertility, the culture apparently disappeared from the Maltese Islands around 2500 BC. Archaeologists speculate that the builders fell victim to famine or disease

5.
Fortification
–
Fortifications are military constructions or buildings designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and also used to solidify rule in a region during peace time. Humans have constructed defensive works for many thousands of years, in a variety of increasingly complex designs, the term is derived from the Latin fortis and facere. From very early history to modern times, walls have been a necessity for cities to survive in a changing world of invasion. Some settlements in the Indus Valley Civilization were the first small cities to be fortified, in ancient Greece, large stone walls had been built in Mycenaean Greece, such as the ancient site of Mycenae. A Greek Phrourion was a collection of buildings used as a military garrison. These construction mainly served the purpose of a tower, to guard certain roads, passes. Though smaller than a fortress, they acted as a border guard rather than a real strongpoint to watch. The art of setting out a camp or constructing a fortification traditionally has been called castramentation since the time of the Roman legions. Fortification is usually divided into two branches, permanent fortification and field fortification, there is also an intermediate branch known as semi-permanent fortification. Castles are fortifications which are regarded as being distinct from the fort or fortress in that they are a residence of a monarch or noble. Roman forts and hill forts were the antecedents of castles in Europe. The Early Middle Ages saw the creation of towns built around castles. Medieval-style fortifications were made obsolete by the arrival of cannons in the 14th century. Fortifications in the age of black powder evolved into much lower structures with greater use of ditches and earth ramparts that would absorb, Walls exposed to direct cannon fire were very vulnerable, so were sunk into ditches fronted by earth slopes. The arrival of explosive shells in the 19th century led to yet another stage in the evolution of fortification, steel-and-concrete fortifications were common during the 19th and early 20th centuries. However the advances in warfare since World War I have made large-scale fortifications obsolete in most situations. Demilitarized zones along borders are arguably another type of fortification, although a passive kind, many military installations are known as forts, although they are not always fortified. Larger forts may be called fortresses, smaller ones were known as fortalices

6.
Italian language
–
By most measures, Italian, together with Sardinian, is the closest to Latin of the Romance languages. Italian is a language in Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City. Italian is spoken by minorities in places such as France, Montenegro, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Crimea and Tunisia and by large expatriate communities in the Americas. Many speakers are native bilinguals of both standardized Italian and other regional languages, Italian is the fourth most studied language in the world. Italian is a major European language, being one of the languages of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe. It is the third most widely spoken first language in the European Union with 65 million native speakers, including Italian speakers in non-EU European countries and on other continents, the total number of speakers is around 85 million. Italian is the working language of the Holy See, serving as the lingua franca in the Roman Catholic hierarchy as well as the official language of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta. Italian is known as the language of music because of its use in musical terminology and its influence is also widespread in the arts and in the luxury goods market. Italian has been reported as the fourth or fifth most frequently taught foreign language in the world, Italian was adopted by the state after the Unification of Italy, having previously been a literary language based on Tuscan as spoken mostly by the upper class of Florentine society. Its development was influenced by other Italian languages and to some minor extent. Its vowels are the second-closest to Latin after Sardinian, unlike most other Romance languages, Italian retains Latins contrast between short and long consonants. As in most Romance languages, stress is distinctive, however, Italian as a language used in Italy and some surrounding regions has a longer history. What would come to be thought of as Italian was first formalized in the early 14th century through the works of Tuscan writer Dante Alighieri, written in his native Florentine. Dante is still credited with standardizing the Italian language, and thus the dialect of Florence became the basis for what would become the language of Italy. Italian was also one of the recognised languages in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Italy has always had a dialect for each city, because the cities. Those dialects now have considerable variety, as Tuscan-derived Italian came to be used throughout Italy, features of local speech were naturally adopted, producing various versions of Regional Italian. Even in the case of Northern Italian languages, however, scholars are not to overstate the effects of outsiders on the natural indigenous developments of the languages

7.
Maltese language
–
Maltese is descended from Siculo-Arabic, the variety of Arabic that developed in Sicily and was later introduced to Malta, between the end of the ninth century and the end of the twelfth century. Maltese is a branch of Arabic because it has evolved independently of Literary Arabic into a standardized language over the past 800 years in a gradual process of Latinisation. About half of the vocabulary is derived from standard Italian and Sicilian, the original Semitic base comprises around one-third of the Maltese vocabulary, and typically includes words that denote basic ideas and the function words. Maltese has always written in the Latin script, the earliest surviving example dating from the late Middle Ages. The Norman conquest in 1090, followed by the expulsion of the Muslims permanently isolated the vernacular from its Arabic source, in contrast to Sicily, the vernacular in Malta continued to develop alongside Italian, eventually replacing it as official language in 1934. The first written reference to the Maltese language is in a will of 1436, the oldest known document in Maltese is Il Cantilena by Pietru Caxaro. It dates from the 15th century, the earliest known Maltese dictionary was a sixteenth-century manuscript entitled Maltese-Italiano, it was included in the Biblioteca Maltese of Mifsud in 1764, but is now lost. The first systematic lexicon is that of Giovanni Pietro Francesco Agius de Soldanis, Maltese became an official language of Malta in 1934, alongside English, when Italian was dropped from official use. In 1975, there were an estimated 371,000 Maltese speakers, today, the core vocabulary is Semitic, with large numbers of loanwords. Because of the Sicilian influence on Siculo Arabic, Maltese has many language contact features and is most commonly described as a language with a number of loanwords. Voiceless stops are only lightly aspirated and voiced stops are fully voiced, voicing is carried over from the last segment in obstruent clusters, thus, two- and three-obstruent clusters are either voiceless or voiced throughout, e. g. /niktbu/ is realised we write. Maltese has final-obstruent devoicing of voiced obstruents and voiceless stops have no audible release, gemination is distinctive word-medially and word-finally in Maltese. The distinction is most rigid intervocalically after a stressed vowel, some speakers have lost length distinction in clusters. The two nasals /m/ and /n/ assimilate for place of articulation in clusters, /t/ and /d/ are usually dental, whereas /t͡s d͡z s z n r l/ are all alveolar. /t͡s d͡z/ are found mostly in words of Italian origin, retaining length, /d͡z/ and /ʒ/ are only found in loanwords, e. g. /ɡad͡zd͡zɛtta/ newspaper and /tɛlɛˈviʒin/ television. The pharyngeal fricative /ħ/ is velar or glottal for some speakers, stress is generally on the penultimate syllable, unless some other syllable is heavy, or unless a stress-shifting suffix is added. When two syllables are heavy, the penultimate takes the stress, but otherwise the heavier syllable does. Many Classical Arabic consonants underwent mergers and modifications in Maltese, The modern system of Maltese orthography was introduced in 1924, the first edition of this book was printed in 1924 by the Maltese governments printing press

8.
Enceinte
–
Enceinte is a French term denoting the main defensive enclosure of a fortification. For a castle this is the defensive line of wall towers. For a settlement it would be the town wall with its associated gatehouses and towers. However, the outworks or defensive wall close to the enceinte were not considered as forming part of it, in early 20th-century fortification, the enceinte was usually simply the innermost continuous line of fortifications. In architecture, generally, an enceinte is the close or precinct of a cathedral, abbey, castle, the enceinte may be laid out as a freestanding structure or combined with buildings adjoining the outer walls. The enceinte not only provided protection for the areas behind it. The outline of the enceinte, with its towers and domestic buildings. The ground plan of an enceinte is affected by the terrain, from the 12th century onwards an additional enclosure called a zwinger was often built in front of the enceinte of many European castles. This afforded an additional layer of defence as it formed a killing ground in front of the defensive wall. During the Baroque era it was not uncommon for these enclosures to be turned into gardens as for example in Dresden). Enceinte is the adjective pregnant in the French language, friar, Stephen, The Sutton Companion to Castles, Stroud, Sutton Publishing, p.105, ISBN 978-0-7509-3994-2 Piper, Otto, Burgenkunde. Bauwesen und Geschichte der Burgen, in Piperer, R. et al

9.
Defensive wall
–
A defensive wall is a fortification used to protect a city, town or other settlement from potential aggressors. In ancient to modern times, they were used to enclose settlements, beyond their defensive utility, many walls also had important symbolic functions – representing the status and independence of the communities they embraced. Existing ancient walls are almost always masonry structures, although brick, depending on the topography of the area surrounding the city or the settlement the wall is intended to protect, elements of the terrain may be incorporated in order to make the wall more effective. Walls may only be crossed by entering the city gate and are often supplemented with towers. Simpler defensive walls of earth or stone, thrown up around hillforts, ringworks, early castles, from very early history to modern times, walls have been a near necessity for every city. Uruk in ancient Sumer is one of the worlds oldest known walled cities, before that, the city of Jericho in what is now the West Bank had a wall surrounding it as early as the 8th millennium BC. The Assyrians deployed large labour forces to build new palaces, temples, some settlements in the Indus Valley Civilization were also fortified. By about 3500 B. C. hundreds of small farming villages dotted the Indus floodplain, many of these settlements had fortifications and planned streets. Mundigak in present-day south-east Afghanistan has defensive walls and square bastions of sun dried bricks, babylon was one of the most famous cities of the ancient world, especially as a result of the building program of Nebuchadnezzar, who expanded the walls and built the Ishtar Gate. Exceptions were few — notably, ancient Sparta and ancient Rome did not have walls for a long time, initially, these fortifications were simple constructions of wood and earth, which were later replaced by mixed constructions of stones piled on top of each other without mortar. In Central Europe, the Celts built large fortified settlements which the Romans called oppida, the fortifications were continuously expanded and improved. In ancient Greece, large stone walls had been built in Mycenaean Greece, in classical era Greece, the city of Athens built a long set of parallel stone walls called the Long Walls that reached their guarded seaport at Piraeus. Large tempered earth walls were built in ancient China since the Shang Dynasty, although stone walls were built in China during the Warring States, mass conversion to stone architecture did not begin in earnest until the Tang Dynasty. The large walls of Pingyao serve as one example, likewise, the famous walls of the Forbidden City in Beijing were established in the early 15th century by the Yongle Emperor. The Romans fortified their cities with massive, mortar-bound stone walls, the most famous of these are the largely extant Aurelian Walls of Rome and the Theodosian Walls of Constantinople, together with partial remains elsewhere. These are mostly city gates, like the Porta Nigra in Trier or Newport Arch in Lincoln, apart from these, the early Middle Ages also saw the creation of some towns built around castles. These cities were only protected by simple stone walls and more usually by a combination of both walls and ditches. From the 12th century AD hundreds of settlements of all sizes were founded all across Europe and these cities are easy to recognise due to their regular layout and large market spaces

10.
Curtain wall (fortification)
–
A curtain wall is a defensive wall between two towers of a castle, fortress, or town. In medieval castles, the area surrounded by a curtain wall, the outermost walls with their integrated bastions and wall towers together make up the enceinte or main defensive line enclosing the site. In earlier designs of castle and town, the walls were often built to a considerable height and were fronted by a ditch or moat to make assault difficult. Evidence for curtain walls or a series of walls surrounding a town or fortress can be found in the sources from Assyria. Some notable examples are ancient Lachish and Buhen, enceinte Curry, Anne, Hughes, Michael, eds. The Popular Encyclopedia, or, Conversations Lexicon, I, Glasgow, Edinburgh, and London, Blackie & Son, p.444

11.
Bastion
–
A bastion is an angular structure projecting outward from the curtain wall of a fortification, most commonly at the corners. The fully developed bastion consists of two faces and two flanks with fire from the flanks being able to protect the wall and also the adjacent bastions. It is one element in the style of fortification dominant from the mid 16th to mid 19th centuries, Bastion fortifications offered a greater degree of passive resistance and more scope for ranged defense in the age of gunpowder artillery compared with the medieval fortifications they replaced. By the middle of the 15th century, artillery pieces had become powerful enough to make the traditional medieval round tower, during the Eighty Years War Dutch military engineers developed the concepts further lengthening the faces and shortening the curtain walls of the bastions. To augment this change they placed v shaped outworks in front of the bastions, Bastions differ from medieval towers in a number of respects. Bastions are lower than towers and are normally of similar height to the adjacent curtain wall, the height of towers, although making them difficult to scale, also made them easy for artillery to destroy. A bastion would normally have a ditch in front, the side of which would be built up above the natural level then slope away gradually. This glacis shielded most of the bastion from the cannon while the distance from the base of the ditch to the top of the bastion meant it was still difficult to scale. In contrast to late medieval towers, bastions were flat sided rather than curved. This eliminated dead ground making it possible for the defenders to fire upon any point directly in front of the bastion, Bastions also cover a larger area than most towers. This allows more cannons to be mounted and provided space for the crews to operate them. Surviving examples of bastions are usually faced with masonry, unlike the wall of a tower this was just a retaining wall, cannonball were expected to pass through this and be absorbed by a greater thickness of hard-packed earth or rubble behind. The top of the bastion was exposed to fire. If a bastion was successfully stormed, it could provide the attackers with a stronghold from which to further attacks. Some bastion designs attempted to minimise this problem and this could be achieved by the use of retrenchments in which a trench was dug across the rear of the bastion, isolating it from the main rampart. Various kinds of bastions have been used throughout history, solid bastions are those that are filled up entirely, and have the ground even with the height of the rampart, without any empty space towards the centre. Void or hollow bastions are those that have a rampart, or parapet, only around their flanks and faces, so that a void space is left towards the centre. The ground is so low, that if the rampart is taken, no retrenchment can be made in the centre, but what will lie under the fire of the besieged

12.
Ditch (fortification)
–
A ditch in military engineering is an obstacle, designed to slow down or break up an attacking force, while a trench is intended to provide cover to the defenders. In medieval fortification, a ditch was constructed in front of a defensive wall to hinder mining. When filled with water, such a defensive ditch is called a moat, however, moats may also be dry. Today ditches are obsolescent as an obstacle, but are still often used as anti-vehicle obstacles. A fence concealed in a ditch is called a ha-ha, scarp, the inner side of the ditch is called the scarp slope. This may be revetted with masonry or brickwork, in which case, cordon, a course of protruding masonry along the top of a scarp wall, intended to make it harder for an enemy to stand a ladder against it. Rampart, the wall of the fort which can be made of earth or masonry, is topped by a parapet for the defenders to fire over. Berm, a ledge between the wall and the exterior slope of the rampart, designed to increase the stability of the rampart. Faussebraye, a parapet between the rampart and the inner edge of the ditch. Carnot wall, a wall between the rampart and the inner edge of the ditch. Chemin de ronde, a pathway running along the berm, behind the faussebraye or Carnot wall, cunette, a narrow channel that runs along the floor of the ditch for drainage purposes. Bartardeau, a type of dam across a ditch that is part wet. Counterscarp, the slope or wall of the ditch. Sally port, a door allowing the defenders to enter the ditch should it be occupied by the enemy. Caponier, a masonry or brick structure extending into the ditch or traversing across it, it is pierced with loopholes to enable the defenders to fire along the floor of the ditch. Counterscarp gallery, a passage constructed behind the wall and pierced with loopholes. Glacis, an earth slope angled away from the ditch, the height and angle of the glacis was calculated to protect the rampart from direct fire but to allow the defenders to fire over it. Place-of-arms, an area of the covered way at an angle of the ditch

13.
Knights Hospitaller
–
It was headquartered variously in the Kingdom of Jerusalem, Rhodes and Malta, until it became known by its current name. Some scholars, however, consider that the Amalfitan order and hospital were different from Gerard Thoms order and it regained strength during the early 19th century as it redirected itself toward religious and humanitarian causes. In 1834, the order, by this time known as the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, acquired new headquarters in Rome, in 800, Emperor Charlemagne enlarged Probus hospital and added a library to it. About 200 years later, in 1005, Caliph Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah destroyed the hospital, in 1023, merchants from Amalfi and Salerno in Italy were given permission by the Caliph Ali az-Zahir of Egypt to rebuild the hospital in Jerusalem. The hospital, which was built on the site of the monastery of Saint John the Baptist and it was served by the Order of Saint Benedict. Gerard acquired territory and revenues for his order throughout the Kingdom of Jerusalem, under his successor, Raymond du Puy de Provence, the original hospice was expanded to an infirmary near the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. Initially the group cared for pilgrims in Jerusalem, but the order extended to providing pilgrims with an armed escort. Thus the Order of St. John imperceptibly became military without losing its charitable character. Raymond du Puy, who succeeded Gerard as Master of the Hospital in 1118, organised a militia from the orders members, in 1130, Pope Innocent II gave the order its coat of arms, a silver cross in a field of red. The Hospitallers and the Knights Templar became the most formidable military orders in the Holy Land, frederick Barbarossa, the Holy Roman Emperor, pledged his protection to the Knights of St. John in a charter of privileges granted in 1185. The statutes of Roger de Moulins deal only with the service of the sick, the order numbered three distinct classes of membership, the military brothers, the brothers infirmarians, and the brothers chaplains, to whom was entrusted the divine service. In 1248 Pope Innocent IV approved a military dress for the Hospitallers to be worn during battle. Instead of a closed cape over their armour, they wore a red surcoat with a cross emblazoned on it. Many of the more substantial Christian fortifications in the Holy Land were built by the Templars, at the height of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, the Hospitallers held seven great forts and 140 other estates in the area. The two largest of these, their bases of power in the Kingdom and in the Principality of Antioch, were the Krak des Chevaliers, the property of the Order was divided into priories, subdivided into bailiwicks, which in turn were divided into commanderies. As early as the late 12th century the order had begun to achieve recognition in the Kingdom of England, as a result, buildings such as St Johns Jerusalem and the Knights Gate, Quenington in England were built on land donated to the order by local nobility. An Irish house was established at Kilmainham, near Dublin, after the fall of the Kingdom of Jerusalem in 1291, the Knights were confined to the County of Tripoli and, when Acre was captured in 1291, the order sought refuge in the Kingdom of Cyprus. His successor, Foulques de Villaret, executed the plan, and on 15 August 1310, after four years of campaigning

14.
Fortifications of Malta
–
The fortifications of Malta consist of a number of walled cities, citadels, forts, towers, batteries, redoubts, entrenchments and pillboxes. The earliest known fortifications in Malta are defensive walls built around Bronze Age settlements, the Phoenicians, Romans and Byzantines built a number of defensive walls around important settlements, but very little remains of these survive today. By the late period, the main fortifications on Malta were the capital Mdina, the Cittadella on Gozo, the Castrum Maris. The fortifications of Malta were greatly improved while the islands were ruled by the Order of St. John between 1530 and 1798, the Hospitallers built new bastioned fortifications, such as the fortifications of Birgu and Valletta, and upgraded the medieval defences. Following a brief French occupation, the islands fell under British rule in 1800, between the 1870s and the 1900s a number of polygonal forts and batteries were built around Maltas coastline and along the Great Fault. In the 1930s and 1940s, Fort Campbell, a series of pillboxes and a number of batteries were constructed. Maltas fortifications are considered to be among the best examples of military architecture anywhere in the world, major General Whitworth Porter of the Royal Engineers, called Malta the most powerful artificial fortress in the world in his 1858 book A History of the Fortress of Malta. The first fortifications in Malta were built during the Bronze Age, at least six sites have been identified as possible fortified settlements. The best preserved of these is the village of Borġ in-Nadur, around 1450 BC, the inhabitants of the village built a 4. 5m high D-shaped bastion to bar access to their village. The wall was built facing inland, showing that the living in the village were more afraid of attacks from the land than from the sea. In around 700 BC, the Phoenicians founded and fortified the city of Maleth on one of the highest points of the island, eventually the city was taken over by the Roman Empire and it was renamed Melite. The city was again renamed Medina by the Arabs which led to its present name Mdina, the remains of several round towers have been found in Malta, and they are believed to date back to the late Punic or Roman periods. It is possible that these were used as watchtowers, but some dispute this since their locations do not really make sense in defensive systems. According to Al-Himyarī, when the Arabs captured Malta in 870 AD, by 1241, the Gran Castello or Cittadella on Gozo was definitely fortified, although a settlement on the hill had existed since the Bronze Age. The citys fortifications were improved over the years, and the walls of the city that still stand today were built around the 15th century by the Crown of Aragon. The Castrum Maris was built sometime in the Middle Ages, the castle definitely existed by the 13th century, and it was involved in the Battle of Malta of 1283. By the early 16th century, it belonged to the de Nava family, in the early 15th century, the local militia had a number of watch posts around the Maltese islands, and in some cases there might have been fortified coastal watchtowers at these posts. One of these towers is known to have built at St Elmo Point on the Sciberras Peninsula by the Aragonese in 1488

15.
National Congress Battalions
–
The National Congress Battalions, also known as the Truppe di Campagna, was an irregular military set up in Malta just after the Maltese rebellion against French rule in September 1798. It existed for two years before being disbanded on 11 September 1800, the battalions were also referred to as the Maltese Army or the Maltese insurgents. From 1530, Malta had been administered by the Order of Saint John, the islands were occupied by French forces in June 1798, when Napoleon ousted the Order during the Mediterranean campaign of 1798. On 2 September 1798, while the French were looting artifacts from a church in Rabat, the French retreated to the fortified city of Mdina, but on 3 September, the rebels managed to enter the city from a sally port and the French force surrendered. Most of the towns and villages fell into rebel hands over the few days. On 4 September, the Maltese formed a National Assembly, notary Emmanuele Vitale, who had led the attack on Mdina, was appointed Generale Commandante of the army. The first battalions to be set up were those of Birkirkara and Żebbuġ, Vitale, Borg and Caruana became the three main leaders of the insurrection. The Maltese acknowledged King Ferdinand of Naples and Sicily as their sovereign, throughout the rest of the siege, the Maltese insurgents were aided by the British, Neapolitans and Portuguese. In 1799, Czar Paul I of Russia sent a diplomat to the insurgents promising his support, the Maltese insurgents made a number of successful assaults throughout the course of the siege, including the capture of St. Thomas Tower and St. Julians Tower. Throughout the course of the siege, the Maltese constructed a number of camps, batteries, the most important insurgent fortifications were the Corradino Batteries, Għargħar Battery, Tal-Borg Battery and Tas-Samra Battery. At its peak, the army consisted of 10,000 men, the French eventually capitulated to the British on 4 September 1800. The Maltese battalions were disbanded by British Civil Commissioner Alexander Ball on 11 September, between 1800 and 1801, gold and silver medals were struck to commemorate the blockade, and were awarded to leaders and distinguished members of the National Congress Battalions. These are now among the most highly prized Maltese medals, some of the larger battalions had artillery and engineer sections, as well as military bands. A grenadier company known as the Granatieri was also established, the majority of the army did not have uniforms, but the Birkirkara Battalion was supplied with locally made cotton uniforms. The Generale Commandante, the staff, the Granatieri and some artillery units also had their own uniforms. At the outbreak of the rebellion, the insurgents were poorly armed, having only hunting rifles, muskets captured from several armouries, between 19 and 24 September 1798, the Portuguese Navy and Royal Navy supplied the insurgents with a large number of muskets and cartridge boxes. The Maltese also had artillery pieces captured from various coastal fortifications such as Saint Marys Tower and these were taken to the many insurgent positions encircling the harbour area

16.
Ancient history
–
Ancient history is the aggregate of past events from the beginning of recorded human history and extending as far as the Early Middle Ages or the Postclassical Era. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with Sumerian Cuneiform script, the term classical antiquity is often used to refer to history in the Old World from the beginning of recorded Greek history in 776 BC. This roughly coincides with the date of the founding of Rome in 753 BC, the beginning of the history of ancient Rome. In India, ancient history includes the period of the Middle Kingdoms, and, in China. Historians have two major avenues which they take to better understand the ancient world, archaeology and the study of source texts, primary sources are those sources closest to the origin of the information or idea under study. Primary sources have been distinguished from secondary sources, which cite, comment on. Archaeology is the excavation and study of artefacts in an effort to interpret, archaeologists excavate the ruins of ancient cities looking for clues as to how the people of the time period lived. The study of the ancient cities of Harappa, Mohenjo-daro, the city of Pompeii, an ancient Roman city preserved by the eruption of a volcano in AD79. Its state of preservation is so great that it is a window into Roman culture and provided insight into the cultures of the Etruscans. The Terracotta Army, the mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor in ancient China, the discovery of Knossos by Minos Kalokairinos and Sir Arthur Evans. The discovery of Troy by Heinrich Schliemann, most of what is known of the ancient world comes from the accounts of antiquitys own historians. Although it is important to take account the bias of each ancient author. Some of the more notable ancient writers include Herodotus, Thucydides, Arrian, Plutarch, Polybius, Sima Qian, Sallust, Livy, Josephus, Suetonius, furthermore, the reliability of the information obtained from these surviving records must be considered. Few people were capable of writing histories, as literacy was not widespread in almost any culture until long after the end of ancient history, the earliest known systematic historical thought emerged in ancient Greece, beginning with Herodotus of Halicarnassus. He was also the first to distinguish between cause and immediate origins of an event, the Roman Empire was one of the ancient worlds most literate cultures, but many works by its most widely read historians are lost. Indeed, only a minority of the work of any major Roman historian has survived, prehistory is the period before written history. The early human migrations in the Lower Paleolithic saw Homo erectus spread across Eurasia 1.8 million years ago, the controlled use of fire occurred 800,000 years ago in the Middle Paleolithic. 250,000 years ago, Homo sapiens emerged in Africa, 60–70,000 years ago, Homo sapiens migrated out of Africa along a coastal route to South and Southeast Asia and reached Australia

17.
Abatis
–
An abatis, abattis, or abbattis is a field fortification consisting of an obstacle formed of the branches of trees laid in a row, with the sharpened tops directed outwards, towards the enemy. The trees are usually interlaced or tied with wire, abatis are used alone or in combination with wire entanglements and other obstacles. There is evidence it was used as early as the Roman Imperial period, a classic use of an abatis was at the Battle of Carillon during the Seven Years War. The 3,600 French troops defeated an army of 16,000 British. The British found the defences almost impossible to breach and were forced to withdraw with some 2,600 casualties, an important weakness of abatis, in contrast to barbed wire, is that it can be destroyed by fire. An important advantage is that an improvised abatis can be formed in forested areas. This can be done by cutting down a row of trees so that they fall with their tops toward the enemy. An alternative is to place explosives so as to blow the trees down, abatis are rarely seen nowadays, having been largely replaced by wire obstacles. However, it may be used as a replacement or supplement when barbed wire is in short supply, a form of giant abatis, using whole trees instead of branches, can be used as an improvised anti-tank obstacle. Though rarely used by conventional military units, abatises are still officially maintained in United States Army. Furthermore, it is recommended that the trees remain connected to the stumps, US military maps record an abatis by use of an inverted V with a short line extending from it to the right. Zasechnaya cherta Pamplin Historical Park & The National Museum of the Civil War Soldier includes large and authentic reproduction of abatis used in the U. S. Civil War

18.
Agger (ancient Rome)
–
An agger is an ancient Roman embankment or rampart, or any artificial elevation. The agger was an embankment that gave Roman roads the proper draining base, basically the agger is a ridge that supports the road surface. The material used to build the aggers was dug from lateral ditches, once the material was dug out of the ditches that were known as scoop ditches, they were used as the storm drain for that road. These ditches could also be used for soldiers to hide in if they ever were under attack from enemies, on the most important road routes, the agger could be 4 to 5 feet high and 45 to 50 feet wide. Along less important routes the road is set directly on the levelled ground surface with stones laid to provide drainage with the lateral ditches barely visible. The material was found locally, though the Romans would not hesitate to bring in the material from other places if they could find no suitable stone. The course of a Roman road can often be traced today by the line of the agger across the landscape. A well-known example is the Agger Servianus, a part of the Servian walls of Rome, which protected the city on its most vulnerable side and it consisted of a double rampart bearing formidable fortifications

19.
Broch
–
A broch is an Iron Age drystone hollow-walled structure of a type found only in Scotland. Brochs belong to the classification complex atlantic roundhouse devised by Scottish archaeologists in the 1980s and their origin is a matter of some controversy. The theory that they were defensive military structures is not accepted by modern archaeologists. Although most stand alone in the landscape, some examples exist of brochs surrounded by clusters of smaller dwellings, the word broch is derived from Lowland Scots brough, meaning fort. In the mid-19th century Scottish antiquaries called brochs burgs, after Old Norse borg, place names in Scandinavian Scotland such as Burgawater and Burgan show that Old Norse borg is the older word used for these structures in the north. Brochs are often referred to as duns in the west, antiquaries began to use the spelling broch in the 1870s. A precise definition for the word has proved elusive, brochs are the most spectacular of a complex class of roundhouse buildings found throughout Atlantic Scotland. Researcher Euan MacKie has proposed a smaller total for Scotland of 104. The origin of brochs is a subject of continuing research and this view contrasted, for example, with that of Sir Lindsay Scott, who argued, following Childe, for a wholesale migration into Atlantic Scotland of people from southwest England. Meanwhile, the increasing number – albeit still pitifully few – of radiocarbon dates for the use of brochs still suggests that most of the towers were built in the 1st centuries BC. A few may be earlier, notably the one proposed for Old Scatness Broch in Shetland, Caithness, Sutherland and the Northern Isles have the densest concentrations, but there are also a great many examples in the west of Scotland and the Hebrides. Although mainly concentrated in the northern Highlands and the Islands, a few occur in the Borders, on the west coast of Dumfries and Galloway. In a c.1560 sketch there appears to be a broch by the next to Annan Castle in Dumfries. This small group of southern brochs has never been satisfactorily explained, the original interpretation of brochs, favoured by nineteenth century antiquarians, was that they were defensive structures, places of refuge for the community and their livestock. They were sometimes regarded as the work of Danes or Picts, from the 1930s to the 1960s, archaeologists like V. Gordon Childe and later John Hamilton regarded them as castles where local landowners held sway over a subject population. The castle theory fell from favour among Scottish archaeologists in the 1980s, once again, however, there is a lack of archaeological proof for this reconstruction, and the sheer number of brochs, sometimes in places with a lack of good land, makes it problematic. Brochs close groupings and profusion in many areas may indeed suggest that they had a defensive or even offensive function. Often they are at key strategic points, in Shetland they sometimes cluster on each side of narrow stretches of water, the broch of Mousa, for instance, is directly opposite another at Burraland in Sandwick

20.
Castra
–
In the Roman Empire, the Latin word castrum was a building, or plot of land, used as a fortified military camp. Castrum was the used for different sizes of camps including a large legionary fortress, smaller auxiliary forts, temporary encampments. The diminutive form castellum was used for fortlets, typically occupied by a detachment of a cohort or a century, in English, the terms Roman fortress, Roman fort and Roman camp are commonly used for castrum. However, scholastic convention tends toward the use of the camp, marching camp. For a list of known castra see List of castra, the term castrum appears in three Italic languages, Oscan, Umbrian and Latin. g. Castrum Album, Castrum Inui, Castrum Novum, Castrum Truentinum, Castrum Vergium. The plural was used as a place name, as Castra Cornelia. Castrorum Filius was one of names used by the emperor Caligula, the terms stratopedon and phrourion were used by Greek language authors to translate castrum and castellum, respectively. A castrum was designed to house and protect the soldiers, their equipment and this most detailed description that survives about Roman military camps is De Munitionibus Castrorum, a manuscript of 11 pages that dates most probably from the late 1st to early 2nd century AD. Regulations required a major unit in the field to retire to a properly constructed camp every day, to this end a marching column ported the equipment needed to build and stock the camp in a baggage train of wagons and on the backs of the soldiers. They could throw up a camp under enemy attack in as little as a few hours. Judging from the names, they used a repertory of camp plans, selecting the one appropriate to the length of time a legion would spend in it, tertia castra, quarta castra. A camp of three days, four days, etc, more permanent camps were castra stativa, standing camps. The least permanent of these were castra aestiva or aestivalia, summer camps, in which the soldiers were housed sub pellibus or sub tentoriis, under tents. For the winter the soldiers retired to castra hiberna containing barracks and other buildings of solid materials. The camp allowed the Romans to keep a rested and supplied army in the field, neither the Celtic nor Germanic armies had this capability, they found it necessary to disperse after only a few days. The largest castra were legionary fortresses built as bases for one or more whole legions, previously, legions were raised for specific military campaigns and subsequently disbanded, requiring only temporary castra. From then on many castra of various sizes were established many of which became permanent settlements, from the most ancient times Roman camps were constructed according to a certain ideal pattern, formally described in two main sources, the De Munitionibus Castrorum and the works of Polybius

21.
Circular rampart
–
The period during which these structures appeared stretches from the Neolithic to the Middle Ages. The key feature of a rampart is the embankment forming the primary means of the defensive fortification. It can be constructed in ways, as a simple earth embankment, as a wood. Circular ramparts usually have a moat or ditch in front of them, often several concentric rings were built, which produced a more effective defensive position against attackers. The interior of such sites often shows evidence of such as halls, barns. They are often hidden in woods and discovered by aerial photography, archaeological profiles through the defences and excavations of the interior enable analysis of the period the site was occupied, the pottery used and the type of food consumed

22.
City gate
–
A city gate is a gate which is, or was, set within a city wall. City gates were built to provide a point of controlled access to and departure from a walled city for people, vehicles, goods. The city gate was also used to display diverse kinds of public information such as announcements, tax and toll schedules, standards of local measures. City gates, in one form or another, can be found across the world in cities dating back to ancient times to around the 19th century. Many cities would close their gates after a certain curfew each night, for example a bigger one like Prague or a smaller one like Flensburg, in the north of Germany. With increased stability and freedom, many walled cities removed such fortifications as city gates, although many still survive, many surviving gates have been heavily restored, rebuilt or new ones created to add to the appearance of a city, such as Bab Bou Jalous in Fes. With increased levels of traffic, city gates have come under threat in the past for impeding the flow of traffic, ireland, St. Laurences Gate, 13th Century, in Drogheda, Co

23.
Crannog
–
A crannog is typically a partially or entirely artificial island, usually built in lakes, rivers and estuarine waters of Scotland and Ireland. Crannogs have been interpreted as free-standing wooden structures, as at Loch Tay, although more commonly they exist as brush. However, in such as the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. As a result, completely stone crannogs supporting drystone architecture are common there, today, crannogs typically appear as small, circular islets, often 10 to 30 metres in diameter, covered in dense vegetation due to their inaccessibility to grazing livestock. The Irish word crannóg derives from Old Irish crannóc, which referred to a structure or vessel, stemming from crann. The modern sense of the term first appears sometime around the 12th century, its popularity spread in the period along with the terms isle, ylle, inis. There is some confusion on what the term originally referred to. The additional meanings of crannog can be related as structure/piece of wood, wooden pin, crows nest, pulpit, drivers box on a coach. The Scottish Gaelic form is crannag and has the additional meanings of pulpit, Crannogs are widespread in Ireland, with an estimated 1,200 examples, while Scotland has 347 sites officially listed as such. Previously unknown crannogs in Scotland and Ireland are still being found as underwater surveys continue to investigate loch beds for completely submerged examples, the largest concentrations of crannogs in Ireland are found in the Drumlin Belt of the Midlands, North and Northwest. In Scotland, crannogs favour a western or Atlantic distribution, with concentrations in Argyll and Dumfries. In reality, the Western Isles contain the highest density of lake-settlements in Scotland, one lone Welsh example at Llangorse Lake exists, likely a product of Irish influence across the Irish Sea. Crannogs took on different forms and methods of construction based on what was available in the immediate landscape. The classic image of a prehistoric crannog stems from both post-medieval illustrations and highly influential such as Milton Loch in Scotland by C. M. The Milton Loch interpretation is of a small islet surrounded or defined at its edges by timber piles, Crannogs are traditionally interpreted as simple prehistorical farmsteads. A strict definition of a crannog, which has long been debated, sites in the Western Isles do not satisfy this criterion, although their inhabitants shared the common habit of living on water. The visible structural remains are traditionally interpreted as duns, or in more recent terminology as Atlantic roundhouses and this terminology has recently become popular when describing the entire range of robust, drystone structures that existed in later prehistoric Atlantic Scotland. In some early digs, labourers merely hauled away tons of materials with little regard to anything that was not of immediate economic value

24.
Gatehouse
–
A gatehouse, in architectural terminology, is a building enclosing or accompanying a gateway for a castle, manor house, fort, town or similar buildings of importance. Gatehouses made their first appearance in the early antiquity when it became necessary to protect the entrance to a castle or town. Over time, they evolved into very complicated structures with many lines of defence, strongly fortified gatehouses would normally include a drawbridge, one or more portcullises, machicolations, arrow loops and possibly even murder-holes where stones would be dropped on attackers. In some castles, the gatehouse was so strongly fortified it took on the function of a keep, examples of such gate keeps can be found at Bodiam Castle and Beaumaris Castle. In the late Middle Ages, some of these arrow loops might have converted into gun loops. Sometimes gatehouses formed part of fortifications, perhaps defending the passage of a bridge across a river or a moat. York has four important gatehouses, known as Bars, in its city walls, the French term for gatehouse is logis-porche. This could be a large, complex structure that served both as a gateway and lodging or it could have composed of a gateway through an enclosing wall. A very large gatehouse might be called a châtelet, at the end of the Middle Ages, many gatehouses in England and France were converted into beautiful, grand entrance structures to manor houses or estates. Many of them became a separate feature free-standing or attached to the manor or mansion only by an enclosing wall, by this time the gatehouse had lost its defensive purpose and had become more of a monumental structure designed to harmonise with the manor or mansion. On the continent of Europe, there are examples of surviving gatehouses in France, Austria. Bargate, in Hampshire is a gatehouse in the city centre of Southampton. Constructed in 1180 as part of the Southampton town walls Ightham Mote, Durham Castle, in Durham has an 11th-century gatehouse that is now used as accommodation for students attending University College, Durham. Layer Marney Tower, the apotheosis of the Tudor gatehouse, stokesay Castle, a 13th-century fortified manor house in Shropshire has a Jacobean half-timbered gatehouse. Stanway House, Stanway, Gloucestershire, where the gatehouse measures 44 ft. by 22 ft. and has three storeys, westwood House, Worcestershire, which has a frontage of 54 ft. with two storeys. Burton Agnes Hall, East Riding of Yorkshire, which has three storeys and is flanked by octagonal towers at the angles. Hylton Castle, Hylton, Sunderland, although it is an actual castle, château de Châteaubriant, two gatehouses, one for the lower bailey, one for the upper ward. Château de Suscinio, a large 15th-century gatehouse in the style, Morbihan

25.
Gord (archaeology)
–
A gord is a medieval Slavonic fortified wooden settlement, sometimes known as a burgwall after the German term for such sites. Gords were built during the late Bronze and early Iron Ages by the Lusatian culture (c, 1300–500 BCE, and later in the 8th–7th centuries BCE, in what are now Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Poland, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, eastern Germany, and India. These settlements were founded on strategic sites such as hills, riverbanks, lake islands. A typical gord was a group of houses built either in rows or in circles, surrounded by one or more rings of walls made of earth and wood. Some gords were ring-shaped, with a round, oval, or occasionally polygonal fence or wall surrounding a hollow, others, built on a natural hill or a man-made mound, were cone-shaped. Those with a defense on one side, such as a river or lake, were usually horseshoe-shaped. Most gords were built in densely populated areas on sites that offered particular natural advantages, as Slavic tribes united to form states, gords were also built for defensive purposes in less-populated border areas. Gords in which rulers resided or that lay on trade routes quickly expanded, near the gord, or below it in elevation, there formed small communities of servants, merchants, artisans, and others who served the higher-ranked inhabitants of the gord. Each such community was known as a suburbium and its residents could shelter within the walls of the gord in the event of danger. Eventually the suburbium acquired its own fence or wall, in the High Middle Ages, the gord usual evolved into a castle or citadel and the suburbium into a town. Some gords did not stand the test of time and were abandoned or destroyed, notable archeological sites include Biskupin, Poland, and Bilsk, Ukraine. The term ultimately descends from the reconstructed Proto-Indo-European root ǵʰortós, enclosure, from this same root come the Germanic word elements *gard and *gart, and likely also the names of Graz, Austria and Gartz, Germany. Cognate to these are English words such as yard, garth, girdle, also cognate but less closely related are Latin hortus, a garden, and its English descendants horticulture and orchard. Further afield, in ancient Iran, a fortified settlement was called a gerd. Burugerd or Borujerd is a city in the West of Iran, the Indian suffix -garh, meaning a fort in Hindi, Sanskrit, and other Indo-Iranian languages, appears in many Indian place names. The Proto-Slavic word gordъ later differentiated into grad and gorod, etc and it is the root of various words in modern Slavic languages pertaining to fences and fenced areas. Some of them are in countries which once were but no longer are mainly inhabited by Slavic-speaking peoples, the word survives in the names of several villages and town districts, as well as in the names of the German municipalities Puttgarden, Wagria and Putgarten, Rügen. Garðaríki - Varangian name for Kievan Rus, interpreted as cities Biskupin, fortified settlements in other cultures, Kraal, Motte-and-bailey

26.
Hillfort
–
A hillfort or hill fort is a type of earthworks used as a fortified refuge or defended settlement, located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typically European and of the Bronze and Iron Ages, some were used in the post-Roman period. The fortification usually follows the contours of a hill, consisting of one or more lines of earthworks, with stockades or defensive walls, and external ditches. Hill forts developed in the Late Bronze and Early Iron Age, roughly the start of the first millennium BC, the terms hill fort, hill-fort and hillfort are all used in the archaeological literature. They all refer to a site with one or more ramparts made of earth, stone and/or wood. Many small early hill forts were abandoned, with the ones being redeveloped at a later date. Similar but smaller and less defendable earthworks are found on the sides of hills and these are known as hill-slope enclosures and may have been animal pens. It has been estimated that in about 5000 BC during the Neolithic between 2 million and 5 million lived in Europe, in the Late Iron Age it had an population of around 15 to 30 million. Outside Greece and Italy, which were densely populated, the vast majority of settlements in the Iron Age were small. Hill forts were the exception, and were the home of up to 1,000 people, with the emergence of oppida in the Late Iron Age, settlements could reach as large as 10,000 inhabitants. As the population increased so did the complexity of prehistoric societies, around 1100 BC hill forts emerged and in the following centuries spread through Europe. They served a range of purposes and were variously tribal centres, defended places, foci of ritual activity, during the Hallstatt C period, hill forts became the dominant settlement type in the west of Hungary. Julius Caesar described the large late Iron Age hill forts he encountered during his campaigns in Gaul as oppida, by this time the larger ones had become more like cities than fortresses and many were assimilated as Roman towns. Hill forts were occupied by conquering armies, but on other occasions the forts were destroyed, the local people forcibly evicted. For example, Solsbury Hill was sacked and deserted during the Belgic invasions of southern Britain in the 1st century BC. Excavations at hill forts in the first half of the 20th century focussed on the defenses, the exception to this trend began in the 1930s with a series of excavations undertaken by Mortimer Wheeler at Maiden Castle, Dorset. From 1960 onwards, archaeologists shifted their attention to the interior of hill forts, currently, post-processual archaeologists regard hill forts as symbols of wealth and power. Michael Avery has stated the view of hill forts by saying

27.
Limes
–
A limes was a border defence or delimiting system of Ancient Rome. It marked the boundaries and provinces of the Roman Empire, the word limes was utilized by Latin writers to denote a marked or fortified frontier. This was the definition and usage of the term. It is now common to accept that limes was not a term used by the Romans for the imperial frontier. This is a modern, anachronistic interpretation, the term became common after the 3rd century AD, when it denoted a military district under the command of a dux limitis. The limites represented the line of the Roman Empire at its greatest extent in the 2nd century AD. It stretched over 5,000 km from the Atlantic coast of northern Britain, through Europe to the Black Sea, the remains of the limites today consist of vestiges of walls, ditches, forts, fortresses and civilian settlements. Certain elements of the line have been excavated, some reconstructed, the two sections of the limes in Germany cover a length of 550 km from the north-west of the country to the Danube in the south-east. The 118 km long Hadrians Wall was built on the orders of the Emperor Hadrian c, AD122 at the northernmost limits of the Roman province of Britannia. It is an example of the organization of a military zone and illustrates the defensive techniques. The Antonine Wall, a 60 km-long fortification in Scotland, was started by Emperor Antoninus Pius in AD142 as a defense against the Barbarians of the north and it constitutes the northwestern-most portion of the Roman Limes. Limes Norici, the frontier of the Roman province Noricum, from the River Inn along the Danube to Cannabiaca in Austria, Limes Pannonicus, the frontier of the Roman province Pannonia, along the Danube from Klosterneuburg Austria to Taurunum in Serbia. A mediaeval limes is the Limes Saxoniae in Holstein, the stem of limes, limit-, which can be seen in the genitive case, limitis, marks it as the ancestor of an entire group of important words in many languages, for example, English limit. Modern languages have multiplied its abstract formulations, for example, from limit comes the abbreviation lim, used in mathematics to designate the limit of a sequence or a function, see limit. In metaphysics, material objects are limited by matter and therefore are delimited from each other, in ethics, men must know their limitations and are wise if they do. An etymology was given in detail by Julius Pokorny, Indogermanisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch. According to him, it comes from Indo-European el-, elei-, lei-, to bow, to bend, the Latin meaning was discussed in detail by W. Gebert. The sense is that a limit bends across one in some way, the limes was a cross-path or a cross-wall, which the Romans meant to throw across the path of invaders to hinder them

28.
Oppidum
–
An oppidum is a large fortified Iron Age settlement. They continued in use until the Romans began conquering Europe, north of the River Danube, where the population remained independent from Rome, oppida continued to be used into the 1st century AD. Oppidum is a Latin word meaning the settlement in any administrative area of ancient Rome. The word is derived from the earlier Latin ob-pedum, enclosed space, possibly from the Proto-Indo-European *pedóm-, in his Commentarii de Bello Gallico, Julius Caesar described the larger Celtic Iron Age settlements he encountered in Gaul during the Gallic Wars in 58 to 52 BC as oppida. Although he did not explicitly define what features qualified a settlement to be called an oppidum and they were important economic sites, places where goods were produced, stored and traded, and sometimes Roman merchants had settled and the Roman legions could obtain supplies. They were also political centres, the seat of authorities taking decisions that affected large numbers of people, Most of the places that Caesar called oppida were city-sized fortified settlements. However, Geneva, for example, was referred to as an oppidum, Caesar also refers to 20 oppida of the Bituriges and 12 of the Helvetii, twice the number of fortified settlements of these groups known today. That implies that Caesar likely counted some unfortified settlements as oppida, a similar ambiguity is in evidence in writing by the Roman historian Livy, who also used the word for both fortified and unfortified settlements. In his work Geographia, Ptolemy listed the coordinates of many Celtic settlements, however, research has shown many of the localisations of Ptolemy to be erroneous, making the identification of any modern location with the names he listed highly uncertain and speculative. An exception to that is the oppidum of Brenodurum at Bern, in particular, Dehn suggested defining an oppidum by four criteria, Size, The settlement has to have a minimum size, defined by Dehn as 30 hectares. Topography, Most oppida are situated on heights, but some are located on areas of land. Fortification, The settlement is surrounded by a wall, usually consisting of three elements, a facade of stone, a construction and an earthen rampart at the back. Chronology, The settlement dates from the late Iron Age, the last two centuries BC and they could be referred to as the first cities north of the Alps. The period of 2nd and 1st centuries BC places them in the known as La Tène. A notional minimum size of 15 to 25 hectares has often been suggested, however, the term is not always rigorously used, and it has been used to refer to any hill fort or circular rampart dating from the La Tène period. One of the effects of the inconsistency in definitions is that it is uncertain how many oppida were built, in European archaeology, the term oppida is also used more widely to characterize any fortified prehistoric settlement. For example, significantly older hill-top structures like the one at Glauberg have been called oppida, the Spanish word castro, also used in English, means a walled settlement or hill fort, and this word is often used interchangeably with oppidum by archaeologists. According to prehistorian John Collis oppida extend as far east as the Hungarian plain where other settlement types take over, central Spain has sites similar to oppida, but while they share features such as size and defensive ramparts the interior was arranged differently

29.
Palisade
–
A palisade—sometimes called a stakewall or a paling—is typically a fence or wall made from wooden stakes or tree trunks and used as a defensive structure or enclosure. Typical construction consisted of small or mid-sized tree trunks aligned vertically, the trunks were sharpened or pointed at the top, and were driven into the ground and sometimes reinforced with additional construction. The height of a palisade ranged from around a metre to as high as 3-4 m, as a defensive structure, palisades were often used in conjunction with earthworks. Palisades were an excellent option for small forts or other hastily constructed fortifications, since they were made of wood, they could often be quickly and easily built from readily available materials. They proved to be effective protection for short-term conflicts and were a deterrent against small forces. However, because they were wooden constructions they were vulnerable to fire. Often, a palisade would be constructed around a castle as a wall until a permanent stone wall could be erected. They were frequently used in New France, both the Greeks and Romans created palisades to protect their military camps. The Roman historian Livy describes the Greek method as being inferior to that of the Romans during the Second Macedonian War, the Greek stakes were too large to be easily carried and were spaced too far apart. This made it easy for enemies to them and create a large enough gap in which to enter. In contrast, the Romans used smaller and easier to carry stakes which were placed closer together, many settlements of the native Mississippian culture of the Midwestern United States also made use of palisades. The most prominent example is the Cahokia Mounds site in Collinsville, a wooden stockade with a series of watchtowers or bastions at regular intervals formed a 2-mile-long enclosure around Monks Mound and the Grand Plaza. Archaeologists found evidence of the stockade during excavation of the area and indications that it was several times. The stockade seems to have separated Cahokias main ceremonial precinct from other parts of the city, the English settlements in Jamestown, Virginia and Plymouth, Massachusetts were originally fortified towns surrounded by palisades. In the late century, when milled lumber was not available or practical. The walls were made of vertical half timbers, the outside, rounded half with its still on faced Adirondack weather. Typically, the cracks between the logs were filled with moss and sometimes covered with small sticks. Inside, the cracks were covered with narrow wooden battens and it also presented a more finished look inside

30.
Promontory fort
–
A promontory fort is a defensive structure located above a steep cliff, often only connected to the mainland by a small neck of land, thus utilizing the topography to reduce the ramparts needed. Although their dating is problematic, most seem to date to the Iron Age and they are mainly found in Brittany, Ireland, the Orkney Islands, the Isle of Man, Devon and Cornwall. Only a few Irish promontory forts have been excavated and most date to the Iron Age, though some, others, like Dalkey Island contain imported Eastern Mediterranean pottery and have been reoccupied and changed in the early medieval period. Dunbeg contains an early medieval corbelled stone hut, on the Isle of Man promontory forts are found particularly on the rocky slate headlands of the south. Four out of more than 20 have been excavated and several, especially in Santon, all have a rampart on their vulnerable landward side, and excavations at Cronk ny Merriu have shown that access to the fort was via a strongly built gate. Promontory forts can be all along the coast of Penwith. Maen Castle, near to Lands End is one of the oldest and they are also found in other districts, e. g. The Rumps near Padstow and Dodman Point In Devon, The Aran Islands, Burgh Island and Bolt Tail are located on the south coast and Embury Beacon and Hillsborough on the north coast. The famous site at Tintagel may be an example of promontory fort whose occupation continued into the post Roman. Caesars de Bello Gallico describes the Veneti in southern Armorica – a powerful sea-faring people allied with the southern British during the war of 56 BC – as living in clifftop oppida and their capital was Darioritum on the Morbihan bay, now modern Vannes/Gwened. The Veneti were linguistically British, they spoke Breton, which was derived from Cornish, when they were attacked by the Romans in Brittany, Julius Caesar reports that Cornwall sent them military aid. Hill fort Nancy Edwards, The Archaeology of Early Medieval Ireland, manx National Heritage - Promontory Forts Cronk ny Merriu MNH Maen Castle Retrieved 14 May 2007. Pretanic World - Chart of Neolithic, Bronze Age and Celtic Stone Structures

31.
Rampart (fortification)
–
In fortification architecture, a rampart is a length of bank or wall forming part of the defensive boundary of a castle, hillfort, settlement or other fortified site. It is usually broad-topped and made of excavated earth or masonry or a combination of the two, hillforts, ringforts or raths and ringworks all made use of ditch and rampart defences, and of course they are the characteristic feature of circular ramparts. The ramparts could be reinforced and raised in height by the use of palisades and this type of arrangement was a feature of the motte and bailey castle of northern Europe in the early medieval period. The composition and design of ramparts varied from the mounds of earth and stone, known as dump ramparts, to more complex earth and timber defences. One particular type, common in Central Europe, used earth, stone, vitrified ramparts were composed of stone that was subsequently fired, possibly to increase its strength. Well known examples of classical stone ramparts include Hadrians Wall and the Walls of Constantinople. After the fall of the Roman Empire in Europe, there was a return to the use of earthwork ramparts which lasted well into the 11th century. As castle technology evolved during the Middle Ages and Early Modern times, ramparts continued to part of the defences. Fieldworks, however, continued to use of earth ramparts due to their relatively temporary nature. Parapet, a low wall on top of the rampart to shelter the defenders, crenellation, rectangular gaps or indentations at intervals in the parapet, the gaps being called embrasures or crenels, and the intervening high parts being called merlons. Loophole or arrowslit, an opening in a parapet or in the main body of the rampart. Chemin de ronde or wallwalk, a pathway along the top of the rampart but behind the parapet, which served as a fighting platform and a means of communication with other parts of the fortification. Machicolation, an overhanging projection supported by corbels, the floor of which was pierced with openings so that missiles, brattice, a timber gallery built on top of the rampart and projecting forward from the parapet, to give the defenders a better field of fire. At the same time, the plan or trace of these began to be formed into angular projections called bastions which allowed the guns mounted on them to create zones of interlocking fire. Exterior slope, the front face of the rampart, often faced with stone or brick, interior slope, the back of the rampart on the inside of the fortification, sometimes retained with a masonry wall but usually a grassy slope. Parapet which protected and concealed the defending soldiers, banquette, a continuous step built onto the interior of the parapet, enabling the defenders to shoot over the top with small arms. Barbette, a platform for one or more guns enabling them to fire over the parapet. Embrasure, an opening in the parapet for guns to fire through, terreplein, the top surface or fighting platform of the rampart, behind the parapet

32.
Ringfort
–
Ringforts are circular fortified settlements that were mostly built during the Early Middle Ages up to about the year 1000. They are found in Northern Europe, especially in Ireland, there are also many in south Wales and in Cornwall, where they are called Rounds. Ringforts come in sizes and may be made of stone or earth. Earthen ringforts would have been marked by a rampart, often with a stakewall. Both stone and earthen ringforts would generally have had at least one building inside, in Irish language sources they are known by a number of names, ráth, lios, caiseal, cathair and dún. The ráth and lios was an earthen ringfort, the ráth being the enclosing bank, the caiseal and cathair was a stone ringfort. The term dún was usually used for any stronghold of importance, in Ireland, over 40,000 sites have been identified as ringforts and it is thought that at least 50,000 ringforts existed on the island. They are common throughout the country, with a density of just over one ringfort within any area of 2 km2. It is likely that many have been destroyed by farming and urbanisation, however, many hitherto unknown ringforts have been found thanks to early Ordnance Survey maps, aerial photography, and the archaeological work that has accompanied road-building. Few Cornish examples have been excavated, with the exception of Trethurgy Rounds. According to the authoritative New History of Ireland, archaeologists are agreed that the vast bulk of them are the enclosures of the well-to-do of early medieval Ireland. The a priori case for attributing some ringforts to the Later Middle Ages. is based on the absence of any other settlement form of date in those landscapes. In other words, if the Gaelic-Irish did not live in ringforts, the conjecture that ringforts can be seen to have evolved from and be part of an Iron Age tradition has been expanded by Darren Limbert. This hypothesis is based on a number of re-interpretations of the available evidence, Limbert argues instead, that the ringfort should be seen in the context of a variety of similar developments in Britain and the European Continent, particularly in Iberia and Gaul. While conceding that most ringforts were built in the Early Christian period, supports an intrusion of a Celtic warrior caste. On the island of Öland, Sweden, nineteen ringforts have been identified, including Eketorp, a site that has been completely excavated, currently, excavations are ongoing at Sandby borg, which was the site of a massacre in the 5th Century A. D. It is also possible that the Hill of Tara is a type of ringfort. From a morphological viewpoint, and probably also from the view of the contemporary person, some L Plan Castles, such as Balingarry Castle in Ireland originated as ringforts

33.
Refuge castle
–
In former times such sites were also described as giant castles because their origin was ascribed to giants. Amongst ancient historical references to them are the castles of the Gauls described by Caesar as oppida. Similar ringwork systems were built by the various Germanic and Slavic tribes, such systems are also known as hillforts, the primary construction material being earth, but wood and stone were also used in a variety of construction methods. As a rule they have no towers, but occasionally superstructures resembling gate towers occur, the large size of refuge castles enabled them to provide stores and supplies in the event of a siege. Later on during the Middle Ages this type of castle was built by local farmers. These farmers castles provided protection for country folk from marauding bands of troops, because the majority of refuge castles were not permanent settlements, archaeological excavations often produce little by way of finds. In the Middle Ages fortified churches and fortress churches also acted as refuge castles and they were primarily utilised as the village churches, but their fortifications also made them suitable for use as temporary places of refuge for the villages. D. which had the task of protecting the crossing in the Gailtal valley. During excavations, as well as the system, an early Christian church was discovered in the interior of the castellum. Kreuzen Castle/Bad Kreuzen Hillfort Cave castle

34.
Stockade
–
A stockade is an enclosure of palisades and tall walls made of logs placed side by side vertically with the tops sharpened to provide security. Stockade fortifications were simple forms of defence of camps or settlements, used since ancient Roman times. The troops or settlers would build a stockade by clearing a space of woodland and using the whole or chopped in half. They would dig a trench around the area, and stand the sharpened logs side-by-side inside it. Sometimes they would add additional defence by placing sharpened sticks in a secondary trench outside the stockade. In colder climates sometimes the stockade received a coating of clay or mud that would make the crude wall wind-proof, builders could also place stones or thick mud layers at the foot of the stockade, improving the resistance of the wall. From that the defenders could, if they had the materials, raise a stone or brick wall inside the stockade, the word stockade also refers to a military prison in an army camp, and in some cases, even a crude prison camp or a slave camp. In these cases, the stockade keeps people inside, rather than out, nowadays, stockade walls are often used as garden fencing, made of finished planks more useful for privacy fencing and more decoration than security

35.
Sudis (stake)
–
The sudis is a Latin word meaning stake. It was the given to stakes carried by Roman legionaries for employment as a field fortification. It is frequently, but incorrectly, called a pilum murale meaning wall spear, the stakes were carried by Roman legionaries, typically two were carried by each soldier. Each stake was made of hardwood, usually oak, about 150–180 cm long, square in section, the shape tapers to a point at both ends. The central part is narrowed in a way that suggests the function of a handle. Examples that have found are rough hewn. It seems clear that the stakes were used to form a temporary defence, however, the exact manner in which stakes were used is the subject of debate among experts. It is possible that the stakes were incorporated into the ramparts of a Roman marching camp, projecting from the ramparts at an angle, they would present a barrier to an attacker attempting to climb up. Alternatively, they could have been placed vertically at the top of the rampart as a fence, experiments with reconstructions have been disappointing in that such barriers are not strong, as the symmetry of the stakes makes them easy to pull out of the ground. It has been proposed that the stakes were lashed in pairs at intervals along a log or beam to form a Cheval de frise and this could be used, for example, as a moveable barrier to bar a gateway. Alternatively, three stakes might be roped together into a defence resembling the Czech hedgehog — a sort of giant caltrop, defences of this type, employed en masse, can be pushed aside only with difficulty and cannot be collapsed. The advantage of such suggested modes of use is that they are consistent with the symmetry of the stakes, the Roman Legion Recreated in Colour Photographs

36.
Trou de loup
–
In medieval fortification, a trou de loup was a type of booby trap or defensive obstacle. Each trou de loup consisted of a pit about 2 m deep and 1.2 to 2 m wide at the top. At the bottom of the pit, a sharpened punji stick would be hammered in, in some cases, the pit was concealed by light cover of wicker and a layer of soil. Trous de loup might be found singly as a trap, or in a pattern with no gaps between pits, used as an obstacle in front of a defended position. A field of trous de loup could be made most effective if subsequently flooded to a depth, which would conceal the pits, make their sides slippery. Sometimes rotting meat or feces would be smeared onto the points to cause serious infection, caesar writes they were called lilies for their resemblance to the flower of the same name. Later Roman examples can be seen at Rough Castle on the Antonine Wall in Great Britain

37.
Vallum
–
Vallum is either the whole or a portion of the fortifications of a Roman camp. The vallum usually comprised an earthen or turf rampart with a palisade on top. The name is derived from vallus, and properly means the palisade which ran along the edge of the top of the agger. Hence the Greek vallus could easily be taken hold of by its branches and pulled from its place. The Roman vallus, on the contrary, presented no convenient handle, required very great force to pull it down, the Greek valli were cut on the spot, the Romans prepared theirs beforehand. They were made of any strong wood, but oak was preferred, while on the march, each soldier carried three or four strong wooden stakes each at least 1.5 m long and pointed at both ends. A number of these have found in excavations, sufficiently well-preserved to show that they were waisted. One suggestion is that the waist facilitated them being tied together loosely in threes to form a kind of caltrop or Czech hedgehog that could be placed on the rampart of the vallum. It is likely that these would be augmented with whatever was to hand, such a circumvallation, besides cutting off all communication between the town and the surrounding country, formed a defence against the sallies of the besieged. There was often a line of fortifications, the inner against the town. In this case the army was encamped between the two lines of works and this kind of circumvallation, which the Greeks called ἀποτειχισμός and περιτειχισμός, was employed by the Peloponnesians in the siege of Plataea. Their lines consisted of two walls at the distance of 16 feet, which surrounded the city in the form of a circle, between the walls were the huts of the besiegers. The walls had battlements, and at every ten battlements was a tower, there was a passage for the besiegers through the middle of each tower. On the outside of each wall was a ditch, the towers in such lines were similar to those used in attacking fortified places, but not so high, and of course not moveable. The vallum-building technique was taken by neighbouring people, such as the Byzantines. Examples of valla include, The Vallum, a component of Hadrians Wall Trajans Wall Athanarics Wall ^ Latin vallus derives from Proto-Indo-European *walso-, vallus is the source of English wall. The word vallus is sometimes used as equivalent to vallum, a Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities. Albemarle Street, London, John Murray,1890

38.
Wagon fort
–
A wagon fort is a mobile fortification made of wagons arranged into a rectangle, a circle or other shape and possibly joined with each other, an improvised military camp. It is also known as a laager, ammianus Marcellinus, a Roman army officer and historian of the 4th century, describes a Roman army approaching ad carraginem as they approach a Gothic camp. Historians interpret this as a wagon-fort, similar ad hoc defense formations were used in the United States, and were called corrals. These were traditionally used by 19th century American settlers travelling to the West in convoys of Conestoga wagons. The armed men would then man the perimeter, the circled wagons serving to break up the charge, to create a certain amount of concealment from observation. This tactic was known as circling up the wagons. One of the earliest examples of using conjoined wagons as fortification is described in the Chinese historical record Book of Han, in the 13th century, the armies of Kievan Rus used tabors in the Battle of Kalka to defend themselves from Mongol forces. In the 15th century, during the Hussite Wars, the Hussites developed tactics of using the tabors, called vozová hradba in Czech or Wagenburg by the Germans, such a camp was easy to establish and practically invulnerable to enemy cavalry. The etymology of the word tabor may come from the Hussite fortress and modern day Czech city of Tábor, which itself is a name derived from biblical Jezreel mountain Tavor. The crew of each wagon consisted of 18 to 21 soldiers,4 to 8 crossbowmen,2 handgunners,6 to 8 soldiers equipped with pikes or flails,2 shield carriers and 2 drivers. The wagons would normally form a square, and inside the square would usually be the cavalry, there were two principal stages of the battle using the wagon fort, defensive and counterattack. The defensive part would be a pounding of the enemy with artillery, the Hussite artillery was a primitive form of a howitzer, called in Czech a houfnice, from which the English word howitzer comes. Also, they called their guns the Czech word píšťala, meaning that they were shaped like a pipe or a fife, from which the English word pistol is possibly derived. When the enemy would come close to the fort, crossbowmen and hand-gunners would come from inside the wagons. There would even be stored in a pouch inside the wagons for throwing whenever the soldiers were out of ammunition. After this huge barrage, the enemy would be demoralized, once the commander saw it fit, the second stage of battle would begin. Men with swords, flails, and polearms would come out, together with the infantry, the cavalry in the square would come out and attack. At this point, the enemy would be eliminated or very nearly so, the wagon forts effect on Czech history was lost, but the Czechs would continue to use the wagon forts in later conflicts

39.
Vitrified fort
–
Vitrified fort is the name given to certain crude stone enclosures whose walls have been subjected in a greater or lesser degree to the action of heat. They are generally situated on hills offering strong defensive positions and their form seems to have been determined by the contour of the flat summits which they enclose. The walls vary in size, a few being upwards of 12 feet high, the walls themselves are termed vitrified ramparts. No lime or cement has been found in any of these structures and this fusion, which has been caused by the application of intense heat, is not equally complete in the various forts, or even in the walls of the same fort. It is not clear why or how the walls were subjected to vitrification, some antiquarians have argued that it was done to strengthen the wall, but the heating actually weakens the structure. Battle damage is unlikely to be the cause, as the walls are thought to have been subjected to carefully maintained fires to ensure they were hot enough for vitrification to take place. The process has no significance and is found during both Iron Age and Early Medieval Forts in Scotland. The most remarkable are, Dun Mac Sniachan, the largest in area at 245 m by 50 m and they have not been found in Wales. Broborg is a vitrified hill-fort in Uppland, Sweden, gordon Childe and Wallace Thorneycroft in the 1930s. The experiment produced a few partially vitrified stones, but no answers were gleaned as to how large-scale forts could have been crafted with the approach tried in the programme. This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh

40.
Medieval fortification
–
During this millennium, fortifications changed warfare, and in turn were modified to suit new tactics, weapons and siege techniques. Towers of medieval castles were usually made of stone or sometimes wood, often toward the later part of the era they included battlements and arrow loops. The tower had a staircase to make it hard for the attackers to fight upward. An exact nature of the walls of a town or city would depend on the resources available for building them, the nature of the terrain. In northern Europe, early in the period, walls were likely to have constructed of wood. Especially where stone was available for building, the wood will have been replaced by stone to a higher or lower standard of security. This would have been the pattern of events in the Five Boroughs of the Danelaw in England, in many cases, the wall would have had an internal and an external pomoerium. This was a strip of ground immediately adjacent the wall. The word is from the medieval, derived from the classical Latin post murum. An external pomoerium, stripped of bushes and building, gave defenders a clear view of what was happening outside, an internal pomoerium gave ready access to the rear of the curtain wall to facilitate movement of the garrison to a point of need. By the end of the century, the word had developed further in common use. By that time too, the walls were no longer secure against a serious threat from an army as they were not designed for resisting cannon shot. They were sometimes rebuilt, as at Berwick on Tweed, or retained for use against thieves, very elaborate and complex schemes for town defences were developed in the Netherlands and France but these belong mainly to the post-medieval periods. However, a few, such as those of Carcassonne and Dubrovnik, Medieval walls that were no longer adequate for defending were succeeded by the star fort. After the invention of the shell, star forts became obsolete as well. Harbours or some sort of access was often essential to the construction of medieval fortification. It was a route for trading and fortification. The concept of rivers or harbours coming directly up to the walls of fortifications was used by the English as they constructed castles throughout Wales

Trench warfare
–
The most famous use of trench warfare is the Western Front in World War I. It has become a byword for stalemate, attrition, sieges, Trench warfare occurred when a revolution in firepower was not matched by similar advances in mobility, resulting in a grueling form of warfare in which the defender held the advantage. On the Western Front in 1914–18,

1.
Lines of Torres Vedras

2.
Trenches at the Siege of Vicksburg 1863

3.
The Boer trench at the Battle of Magersfontein contributed to the surprise defeat of the Highland Brigade on 11 December 1899 during the Second Boer War.

4.
German forward detachments guarding the entrance to a trench line in front of Arras in 1915

Redan
–
Redan is a term related to fortifications. It is a work in a V-shaped salient angle toward an expected attack and it can be made from earthworks or other material. The redan developed from the lunette, originally a half-moon-shaped outwork, redans were a common feature in the coastal batteries built in Malta between 1715 and the end of the 18th cen

1.
A redan as part of a fortification

2.
"Cascalho" Redan in the city walls of Elvas, Portugal

3.
Redan at Mistra Battery, Malta (viewed from the back)

Naxxar
–
Naxxar is a town in the Northern Region of Malta, with a population of about 13,443 people as of March 2014. The Naxxar Church is dedicated to Our Lady of Victories, the annual village feast is celebrated on 8 September. Naxxar was formerly known for hosting the Maltese International Trade Fair at Maltese International Trade Fair Grounds, the Naxxa

1.
Naxxar Parish Church

2.
Saint Mark's Tower

Malta
–
Malta, officially known as the Republic of Malta, is a Southern European island country consisting of an archipelago in the Mediterranean Sea. It lies 80 km south of Italy,284 km east of Tunisia, the country covers just over 316 km2, with a population of just under 450,000, making it one of the worlds smallest and most densely populated countries.

1.
Ġgantija megalithic temple complex

2.
Flag

3.
The temple complex of Mnajdra

4.
Roman mosaic from Rabat, Malta.

Fortification
–
Fortifications are military constructions or buildings designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and also used to solidify rule in a region during peace time. Humans have constructed defensive works for many thousands of years, in a variety of increasingly complex designs, the term is derived from the Latin fortis and facere. From very ea

Italian language
–
By most measures, Italian, together with Sardinian, is the closest to Latin of the Romance languages. Italian is a language in Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City. Italian is spoken by minorities in places such as France, Montenegro, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Crimea and Tunisia and by large expatriate communities in the Americas. Many speakers

1.
Dante Alighieri (above) and Petrarch (below) were influential in establishing their Tuscan dialect as the most prominent literary language in all of Italy in the Late Middle Ages

2.
The geographic distribution of the Italian language in the world: large Italian-speaking communities are shown in green; light blue indicates areas where the Italian language was used officially during the Italian colonial period.

4.
Pietro Bembo was an influential figure in the development of the Italian language from the Tuscan dialect, as a literary medium, codifying the language for standard modern usage

Maltese language
–
Maltese is descended from Siculo-Arabic, the variety of Arabic that developed in Sicily and was later introduced to Malta, between the end of the ninth century and the end of the twelfth century. Maltese is a branch of Arabic because it has evolved independently of Literary Arabic into a standardized language over the past 800 years in a gradual pr

1.
Map of Fort San Salvatore, a retrenchment within the Cottonera Lines

Enceinte
–
Enceinte is a French term denoting the main defensive enclosure of a fortification. For a castle this is the defensive line of wall towers. For a settlement it would be the town wall with its associated gatehouses and towers. However, the outworks or defensive wall close to the enceinte were not considered as forming part of it, in early 20th-centu

1.
Enceinte of Khotyn Fortress in Ukraine

2.
The keep of Château de Vincennes protected by its own isolated enceinte

3.
Krak des Chevaliers: a concentric castle.

Defensive wall
–
A defensive wall is a fortification used to protect a city, town or other settlement from potential aggressors. In ancient to modern times, they were used to enclose settlements, beyond their defensive utility, many walls also had important symbolic functions – representing the status and independence of the communities they embraced. Existing anci

1.
Part of the Great Wall of China, a UNESCO World Heritage Site

Curtain wall (fortification)
–
A curtain wall is a defensive wall between two towers of a castle, fortress, or town. In medieval castles, the area surrounded by a curtain wall, the outermost walls with their integrated bastions and wall towers together make up the enceinte or main defensive line enclosing the site. In earlier designs of castle and town, the walls were often buil

Bastion
–
A bastion is an angular structure projecting outward from the curtain wall of a fortification, most commonly at the corners. The fully developed bastion consists of two faces and two flanks with fire from the flanks being able to protect the wall and also the adjacent bastions. It is one element in the style of fortification dominant from the mid 1

1.
Drawing of a bastion

2.
A bastion in the Komárno Fortress (Slovakia).

3.
One of the bastions of the castle of Copertino, Italy

4.
Aerial view of bastions at the Castle Siklós, Hungary

Ditch (fortification)
–
A ditch in military engineering is an obstacle, designed to slow down or break up an attacking force, while a trench is intended to provide cover to the defenders. In medieval fortification, a ditch was constructed in front of a defensive wall to hinder mining. When filled with water, such a defensive ditch is called a moat, however, moats may also

1.
A ditch and earth bank at Old Sarum, near Salisbury in England, dating from the Iron Age.

2.
Ditch of Valletta, which was built between 1566 and the 1570s.

Knights Hospitaller
–
It was headquartered variously in the Kingdom of Jerusalem, Rhodes and Malta, until it became known by its current name. Some scholars, however, consider that the Amalfitan order and hospital were different from Gerard Thoms order and it regained strength during the early 19th century as it redirected itself toward religious and humanitarian causes

1.
Grand Master and senior Knights Hospitaller in the 14th century

2.
Knights Hospitaller

3.
Street of Knights in Rhodes

4.
The Knights' castle at Rhodes

Fortifications of Malta
–
The fortifications of Malta consist of a number of walled cities, citadels, forts, towers, batteries, redoubts, entrenchments and pillboxes. The earliest known fortifications in Malta are defensive walls built around Bronze Age settlements, the Phoenicians, Romans and Byzantines built a number of defensive walls around important settlements, but ve

1.
Fort Saint Angelo in Birgu

2.
The Nuffara plateau in Xagħra, which housed a fortified settlement in the Bronze Age.

3.
The northern walls of the Cittadella were built in the 15th century

National Congress Battalions
–
The National Congress Battalions, also known as the Truppe di Campagna, was an irregular military set up in Malta just after the Maltese rebellion against French rule in September 1798. It existed for two years before being disbanded on 11 September 1800, the battalions were also referred to as the Maltese Army or the Maltese insurgents. From 1530,

1.
Casa Leoni, which served as an insurgent command base

2.
Flag of Malta

Ancient history
–
Ancient history is the aggregate of past events from the beginning of recorded human history and extending as far as the Early Middle Ages or the Postclassical Era. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with Sumerian Cuneiform script, the term classical antiquity is often used to refer to history in the Old World from the b

2.
The Mediterranean in c. the 4th century BC. Phoenician cities are labelled in yellow, Greek cities in red, and other cities in grey.

3.
Eastern Hemisphere in 500 BC.

Abatis
–
An abatis, abattis, or abbattis is a field fortification consisting of an obstacle formed of the branches of trees laid in a row, with the sharpened tops directed outwards, towards the enemy. The trees are usually interlaced or tied with wire, abatis are used alone or in combination with wire entanglements and other obstacles. There is evidence it

1.
Abatis improvised by Japanese troops during World War II

2.
Giant abatis, made from entire trees, can make an effective anti-vehicle obstacle. This formation can be achieved by use of explosives—note the splintered stumps

Agger (ancient Rome)
–
An agger is an ancient Roman embankment or rampart, or any artificial elevation. The agger was an embankment that gave Roman roads the proper draining base, basically the agger is a ridge that supports the road surface. The material used to build the aggers was dug from lateral ditches, once the material was dug out of the ditches that were known a

1.
Remains of the agger of Ardea, Italy

Broch
–
A broch is an Iron Age drystone hollow-walled structure of a type found only in Scotland. Brochs belong to the classification complex atlantic roundhouse devised by Scottish archaeologists in the 1980s and their origin is a matter of some controversy. The theory that they were defensive military structures is not accepted by modern archaeologists.

1.
Dun Carloway broch, Lewis, Scotland

2.
Broch of Mousa

3.
The remains of Kilphedir broch, Sutherland, are surrounded by massive earthworks.

3.
Ruins of the castellum divisorium in Nîmes, France, which distributed water from an aqueduct to individual water pipes.

Castra
–
In the Roman Empire, the Latin word castrum was a building, or plot of land, used as a fortified military camp. Castrum was the used for different sizes of camps including a large legionary fortress, smaller auxiliary forts, temporary encampments. The diminutive form castellum was used for fortlets, typically occupied by a detachment of a cohort or

1.
Reconstructed gateway of a Castra Stativa. Note the battlements, the Roman arches, the turres.

3.
Reconstruction of the specula or vigilarium (Germanic burgus), "watchtower", a type of castrum, of Fectio. An ancient watchtower would have been surrounded by wall and ditch.

4.
The reconstructed porta praetoria of the castle Pfünz, Germany, near the Raetian Limes.

Circular rampart
–
The period during which these structures appeared stretches from the Neolithic to the Middle Ages. The key feature of a rampart is the embankment forming the primary means of the defensive fortification. It can be constructed in ways, as a simple earth embankment, as a wood. Circular ramparts usually have a moat or ditch in front of them, often sev

1.
Artist's impression of the circular rampart of Burg, near Celle, Germany

2.
Varbola ruins in Estonia

3.
External view of the Burg site

4.
Top of the rampart at Burg

City gate
–
A city gate is a gate which is, or was, set within a city wall. City gates were built to provide a point of controlled access to and departure from a walled city for people, vehicles, goods. The city gate was also used to display diverse kinds of public information such as announcements, tax and toll schedules, standards of local measures. City gat

1.
The Brama Młyńska in Stargard Szczeciński one of a few water gates in Europe

2.
Michael's Gate in Bratislava, Slovakia

3.
The Ishtar Gate in the Pergamon Museum in Berlin

4.
Roshnai Gate from Hazuri Bagh (Lahore)

Crannog
–
A crannog is typically a partially or entirely artificial island, usually built in lakes, rivers and estuarine waters of Scotland and Ireland. Crannogs have been interpreted as free-standing wooden structures, as at Loch Tay, although more commonly they exist as brush. However, in such as the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. As a result, completely ston

2.
17th century illustration showing a cross-section of the fortifications of Groenlo. From left to right: counterscarp, covertway, ditch, faussebraye and the main defensive wall.

Gatehouse
–
A gatehouse, in architectural terminology, is a building enclosing or accompanying a gateway for a castle, manor house, fort, town or similar buildings of importance. Gatehouses made their first appearance in the early antiquity when it became necessary to protect the entrance to a castle or town. Over time, they evolved into very complicated struc

1.
Gatehouse reconstruction from ancient Babylon

2.
The southern entrance to York, Micklegate Bar

3.
The entrance to the University of Manchester, built in 1902

4.
Barbican gate of Glenarm Castle, Co. Antrim

Gord (archaeology)
–
A gord is a medieval Slavonic fortified wooden settlement, sometimes known as a burgwall after the German term for such sites. Gords were built during the late Bronze and early Iron Ages by the Lusatian culture (c, 1300–500 BCE, and later in the 8th–7th centuries BCE, in what are now Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Poland, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, e

2.
Section of reconstructed fortifications at Birów near Ogrodzieniec, Poland

3.
Part of reconstructed fortifications at Birów

4.
Grodzisko in Stara Rawa, Poland

Hillfort
–
A hillfort or hill fort is a type of earthworks used as a fortified refuge or defended settlement, located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typically European and of the Bronze and Iron Ages, some were used in the post-Roman period. The fortification usually follows the contours of a hill, consisting of one or more l

1.
Maiden Castle in England is one of the largest hill forts in Europe. Photograph taken in 1935 by Major George Allen (1891–1940).

2.
The ramparts of the multivallate British Camp in Herefordshire

3.
Hill fort Kostolec, Piešťany (Slovakia).

4.
Hill fort of Coaña, Asturias, Spain

Limes
–
A limes was a border defence or delimiting system of Ancient Rome. It marked the boundaries and provinces of the Roman Empire, the word limes was utilized by Latin writers to denote a marked or fortified frontier. This was the definition and usage of the term. It is now common to accept that limes was not a term used by the Romans for the imperial

1.
Reconstructed east gate at Welzheim

3.
Reconstructed wooden tower nearby Rainau, Germany

Oppidum
–
An oppidum is a large fortified Iron Age settlement. They continued in use until the Romans began conquering Europe, north of the River Danube, where the population remained independent from Rome, oppida continued to be used into the 1st century AD. Oppidum is a Latin word meaning the settlement in any administrative area of ancient Rome. The word

1.
Celtic Oppidum, Central Europe 1st century BC

2.
Bibracte France, seen from above, 1st century BC

3.
A museum model of a typical Zangentor at the Oppidum of Manching in Germany

4.
The reconstructed walls of Bibracte, France

Palisade
–
A palisade—sometimes called a stakewall or a paling—is typically a fence or wall made from wooden stakes or tree trunks and used as a defensive structure or enclosure. Typical construction consisted of small or mid-sized tree trunks aligned vertically, the trunks were sharpened or pointed at the top, and were driven into the ground and sometimes re

1.
Palisade in a Celtic village

2.
A section of reconstructed palisade at the Angel Mounds Site, a Mississippian site in Evansville, Indiana

4.
Residential electric palisade fence in Johannesburg, South Africa. The top spikes are electrified while the bottom of the palisade is grounded

Promontory fort
–
A promontory fort is a defensive structure located above a steep cliff, often only connected to the mainland by a small neck of land, thus utilizing the topography to reduce the ramparts needed. Although their dating is problematic, most seem to date to the Iron Age and they are mainly found in Brittany, Ireland, the Orkney Islands, the Isle of Man

Rampart (fortification)
–
In fortification architecture, a rampart is a length of bank or wall forming part of the defensive boundary of a castle, hillfort, settlement or other fortified site. It is usually broad-topped and made of excavated earth or masonry or a combination of the two, hillforts, ringforts or raths and ringworks all made use of ditch and rampart defences,

1.
The multiple ramparts of the British Camp hillfort in Herefordshire

2.
Earth ditch and rampart defences on the Ipf near Bopfingen, Germany

3.
Reconstructed pfostenschlitzmauer of the oppidum at Finsterlohr, Creglingen, Germany

Ringfort
–
Ringforts are circular fortified settlements that were mostly built during the Early Middle Ages up to about the year 1000. They are found in Northern Europe, especially in Ireland, there are also many in south Wales and in Cornwall, where they are called Rounds. Ringforts come in sizes and may be made of stone or earth. Earthen ringforts would hav

1.
The Grianán Ailigh in Ulster is one of the more impressive stone-walled ringforts

2.
Remains of a small earthen ringfort in modern use as an enclosure in Clanabogan, County Tyrone

3.
Interior of Grianán Ailigh

4.
Ringfort on the island of Inishmaan, Aran Islands, Ireland

Refuge castle
–
In former times such sites were also described as giant castles because their origin was ascribed to giants. Amongst ancient historical references to them are the castles of the Gauls described by Caesar as oppida. Similar ringwork systems were built by the various Germanic and Slavic tribes, such systems are also known as hillforts, the primary co

1.
Reconstructed Slavic refuge castle of Raddusch (Lower Lusatia)

Stockade
–
A stockade is an enclosure of palisades and tall walls made of logs placed side by side vertically with the tops sharpened to provide security. Stockade fortifications were simple forms of defence of camps or settlements, used since ancient Roman times. The troops or settlers would build a stockade by clearing a space of woodland and using the whol

1.
This replica of an 1832 fort in Illinois features a stockade with a blockhouse.

Sudis (stake)
–
The sudis is a Latin word meaning stake. It was the given to stakes carried by Roman legionaries for employment as a field fortification. It is frequently, but incorrectly, called a pilum murale meaning wall spear, the stakes were carried by Roman legionaries, typically two were carried by each soldier. Each stake was made of hardwood, usually oak,

Trou de loup
–
In medieval fortification, a trou de loup was a type of booby trap or defensive obstacle. Each trou de loup consisted of a pit about 2 m deep and 1.2 to 2 m wide at the top. At the bottom of the pit, a sharpened punji stick would be hammered in, in some cases, the pit was concealed by light cover of wicker and a layer of soil. Trous de loup might b

1.
A diagrammatic example of a common trou de loup

Vallum
–
Vallum is either the whole or a portion of the fortifications of a Roman camp. The vallum usually comprised an earthen or turf rampart with a palisade on top. The name is derived from vallus, and properly means the palisade which ran along the edge of the top of the agger. Hence the Greek vallus could easily be taken hold of by its branches and pul

1.
Valli (Sudes) combined to form a Czech hedgehog.

Wagon fort
–
A wagon fort is a mobile fortification made of wagons arranged into a rectangle, a circle or other shape and possibly joined with each other, an improvised military camp. It is also known as a laager, ammianus Marcellinus, a Roman army officer and historian of the 4th century, describes a Roman army approaching ad carraginem as they approach a Goth

1.
The Hussite Wagenburg

2.
"The Women of the Teutons Defend the Wagon Fort" (1882) by Heinrich Leutemann.

Vitrified fort
–
Vitrified fort is the name given to certain crude stone enclosures whose walls have been subjected in a greater or lesser degree to the action of heat. They are generally situated on hills offering strong defensive positions and their form seems to have been determined by the contour of the flat summits which they enclose. The walls vary in size, a

1.
Part of the vitrified wall at Sainte Suzanne (Mayenne)

2.
Fragment of vitrified wall at Sainte Suzanne (Mayenne)

Medieval fortification
–
During this millennium, fortifications changed warfare, and in turn were modified to suit new tactics, weapons and siege techniques. Towers of medieval castles were usually made of stone or sometimes wood, often toward the later part of the era they included battlements and arrow loops. The tower had a staircase to make it hard for the attackers to

1.
Beaumaris Castle in Wales was built in the late 13th century and is an example of concentric castles which developed in the medieval period.

2.
Castle of Topoľčany in Slovakia.

3.
Chindia Tower, Târgovişte, Romania

4.
Remains of a commandry (Order of Knights of St. John of Jerusalem) wall in Steinfurt, Germany. The downward slope on the outer side is hidden behind a fence and shrubbery

1.
An aerial view of the Windsor castle: with its shell keep (called "The Round Tower") prominent on its motte inside the middle ward (middle baily).

2.
The shell keep of Windsor Castle was built by Henry II and remodelled in the 19th century.

3.
York Castle's Clifford Tower: A shell keep on a motte

4.
A cross-section of York Castle's shell keep and motte, produced in 1903 by Sir Basil Mott; "A" marks the 20th century concrete underpinnings of the motte; the low walls enclosing the base of the motte are a 19th-century addition.